Democrats gut university transparency bill

House Democratic leadership on Thursday gutted legislation that would make the state's land-grant universities more transparent under the state's open-records laws.

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Rep. John Kowalko's legislation would have forced the University of Delaware and Delaware State University to fully comply with the state's Freedom of Information Act. But top Democrats introduced an amendment gutting the bill, requiring the universities only to open up documents related to contracts funded with taxpayer dollars. Gov. Jack Markell's proposed budget includes nearly $165 million for the universities.

"This is not a compromise," Kowalko, a Newark Democrat, said. "It is a concession."

University operations funded with public dollars are already open to public inspection under the open-records law. Thursday's amendment also gives the university new exclusions to keep information private. The amended bill cleared a key House committee on Thursday.

Adam Goldstein, an attorney with the Student Press Law Center, said the amendment is laughable and eviscerates the proposed legislation.

"It does a Texas Chainsaw Massacre on the law," he said.

The University of Delaware denied 82 percent of the 65 FOIA requests it received since July 2012, saying the requests did not relate to the expenditure of state funds, according to an analysis of the university's FOIA-tracking log. The university denied a reporter's request for a copy of its FOIA log this spring, saying it did not relate to the expenditure of state funds. Under FOIA, such logs are required to be maintained by public bodies.

Delaware State University also denied a reporter's request for their FOIA-tracking log, saying it doesn't keep one.

House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst, D-Bear, said she and Rep. Edward Osienski, D-Newark, draft worked on the amendment to craft something that could pass during this General Assembly.

"Sometimes you have to take baby steps before you really tackle the real big issue, and I think there needs to be more dialogue in the opening up of the University of Delaware," she said.

University officials say forcing them to open up records would harm their competitiveness with private universities.

A University of Delaware lobbyist testified Thursday that the university opposed the original legislation but would not oppose the amendment.

The exemptions for the University of Delaware and Delaware State University are rare among publicly-funded U.S. colleges and universities, with 48 out of 50 states not allowing them. Other exceptions include the Penn State, the University of Pittsburgh, Temple University and Lincoln University.

Modern-day universities operate as small cities, with their own police departments and other functions. The amendment does nothing to ensure that students, residents or parents have access to public safety and other information, Goldstein said.

The University of Delaware is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for how it handles sexual violence and harassment complaints.

"To rewrite this law with this bizarre focus on competitive bidding either shows the failure to understand the reality of a modern university or an actual to attempt to help universities to conceal records that are important to the lives of students," Goldstein said.

Contact Jon Offredo at (302) 678-4271 or at joffredo@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @jonoffredo. Reporter Melissa Nann Burke contributed to this story.